Closure applying machine



Jan. 16, 1940. w NEwEY 2,187,429

CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 12' 6 85Z-i-- Z $213M 1M BY UAW-1} CAMQ ATTORNEY Jan. 16, 1940. NEWEY 2,187,429

CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 17, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORATTOR EY Patented Jan. 16, 1940 PATENT OFFICE CLOSURE APPLYING MACHINEWilliam H. Newey, Hingham, Mass, assignor to Pneumatic ScaleCorporation, Limited, Quincy, Mass, a corporation of MassachusettsApplication December 1'7, 1937, Serial No. 180,341

10 Claims.

' This invention relates to a closure applying machine.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel and improved machinefor applying screw closures to containers and in which provision is madefor changing the speed of rotation of the individual closureapplyingunits so that the same machine may be adapted to apply screwclosures either to containers in which a relatively great amount ofrotation is necessary to seat the closure upon the container or tocontainers in which a relatively small amount of rotation is necessaryto completely seat the closure upon the container.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide anovel and improved construction of a closure applying machine which isparticularly adapted to apply closures of the type provided withl.ugs,to containers in a man ner such that the lugs are permitted toenter recesses on the container during the rotation of the closure.

With these general objects in View and such others as may hereinafterappear, the invention consists in the closure applying machine and inthe various structures, arrangements and combinations of partshereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the endof this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention,Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the container supporting andclosure applying mechanism, Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on the line2-2 of Fig. 1, illustrating the gearing for driving the closure applyingunits; Fig. 3 is a side view of one .type of container upon which thepresent invention is adapted to operate, and Figs. 4, 5, are views insection and plan, respectively of a closure to be applied to thecontainer shown in Fig. 3.

p In general, in its preferred form, the present invention contemplatesa machine for applying screw closures to containers, such as bottles orjars of a novel construction, adapted to apply not only those closuresrequiring a relatively large amount of turning to seat the closure uponthe container, but also which is adapted for use upon closures andcontainers having relatively short threaded portions which require but arelatively small amount of rotation in order to seat the closure uponthe container. In its preferred form, the machine is constructed so thatthe amount of rotation of the individual closure applying units may bereduced to adapt the machine to short threaded closures whilemaintaining a normal production of closed containers from the machine.

Although, in general, the present machine when operated at normal speedis capable of handling closures requiring varying amounts of rotationfor seating the closure upon the container and is more or less universalin its nature because of the provision made in closure applying machinesof this type for permitting the clutch engaging the closure applyingunit to slip when the closure has been completely seated upon thecontainer, yet with certain types of containers and closures andparticularly those closures and containers of the type illustrated inFigs. 3 to 5, difficulty has been at times experienced when the machinewas operated at normal speed for the reason that when the closureapplying unit is rotated at normal operating speed it will not permitthe lugs to drop into the recesses provided in the top of the container,the speed of the unit being sufficiently great so that during therotation of the closure, the lugs are carried beyond the recesses andfollow along the top of the threaded portion of the container. It wasalso found that in some instances one or more of the lugs would engage acontainer in a manner such that the closure would become cross-threadedupon the container.

In the illustrated machine, provision is made for simply and easilychanging the speed of rotation of each closure applying unit so that thesame machine may be quickly and easily adapted for operation upon screwclosures of either type. By arranging to have the closure applying unitsrotated at a slower speed for the lug type caps it was found. that thistype of. closure and container could be successfully handled foralthough the units are continuously rotated, the reduced speed permitsthe lugs of the closure to drop into the recesses of the container andthereafter seat the closure upon the container. This feature of theinvention reduces to a minimum the slippage of the clutch of the closureapplying unit when substantial variation occurs in the lengths of thethreaded portions of the closures, thus increasing the life of theclutch.

In general, the present invention is illustrated as embodied in amachine for applyingscrew closuresto containers, such as bottles orjars, and except as to such details as are hereinafter pointed out, theillustrated machine may comprise any of the usual forms of closureapplying machines now upon the market. Reference is made to the patentto Arthur Clarence Everett, No. 2,082,048 dated June 1, 1937, asdisclosing the details of construction and mode of operation of suchprior art closure applying machines.

Referring now to the drawings, the illustrated machine is provided witha base 2 having mounted thereon a revoluble head It upon which aremounted to revolve therewith'a plurality of and, as herein shown, fourindividual closure applying devices M. Each closure applying device isarranged to be individually rotated during the revolution of the head toscrew a closure lliil upon the threaded neck of a container 20 held byclamping members It, ii of a revoluble container supporting table 58.The table i8 is arranged to revolve with the closure applying devices,and provision is made for engaging and releasing the containers atdifferent stations in the revolution of the container supporting table.

. The revolution of the revoluble head l2 and also the containersupporting table it, is effected by a driving motor not shown arrangedto drive a shaft 39 through the usual connections, such as a belt andpulleys, not shown. The driving shaft 30 is journalled in suitablebearings in a casing 34 secured to and supported by the base of themachine, and is provided with worm 36 which cooperates with a worm wheel33 formed on the lower portion of a cylindrical drum Mi, see Fig. l. Asleeve 42 is attached at its lower end to the inside of the cylindricaldrum by the bolts 43', and at its upper end to the circular containersupporting table i8, by a key M. The clamping jaws l6, ll above referredto for clamping the containers are mounted upon the revoluble table torotate therewith.

Provision is made for effecting the revolution of the closure applyingdevices it about a central supporting shaft 553 through connectionsbetween the closure applying devices and the sleeve 52, including, asshown in Fig. 1 an inner sleeve 46 having an elongated keyway 41 withinwhich an elongated key 48 secured to the outer sleeve is slidably fittedwhereby to effect rotation of the inner sleeve while permitting thevertical adjustment of the sleeve for the purpose of adjusting thevertical position of the closure applying devices to accommodate themachine to different heights of containers.

The closure applying devices l4 are mounted upon the top of the innersleeve 46 by a sup.- porting bracket 52 held by a key 53 to the upperend of the sleeve. The bracket E52 has attached to it a plate 5 2 whichforms a supporting'memher for the individual capping head casings 60 andto which they are fastened at their lower ends by screws 56. Theindividual capping head casings (it are secured at their upper ends-tothe revoluble head !2 by screws 63 so that the rotations of the innersleeve 46 are transmitted directly to the capping headcasings and headl2 to cause the casings fill to'revolve about the stationary shaft 59,as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. l. i

Each closure applying device is provided with a chuck indicatedgenerally at 66 and is mounted to slide vertically within the cappinghead casing 69. -A vertical motion is irnparted to each individualdevice from a cam path 63 in a cylindrical drum Hi, the upper end ofwhich is secured to a flange '52 of a sleeve M keyed to the stationaryshaft 56, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Each capping device is provided witha cam roller 76 which rides in the cam path 68, and each cam roller 76is rotatably mounted on a stud secured in an annular collar 82 as fullydisclosed in the United States Patent No. 2,082,048 above referredDuring the application of the caps, the containers are sup-ported on thetable l8 and are firmly gripped and held from rotation by the clampingmembers 16 and H. The clamping members are arranged to engage andrelease the containers at the different stations in the revolution ofthe table I8 and as herein shown each set of clamping members comprisesa stationary jaw l6 and a movable jaw ll. The stationary jaw is secureddirectly to the table and the movable jaw is faste-ned to a verticalstud I36 pivotally mounted in the table It. The movable jaw is arrangedto be moved by an inner cam surface I32 through a roller i341 on a leverI36 pivoted on a pin [38 secured to the under side of the table I3. Asecond arm M0 of the lever is connected to a lever Hi2 secured to thelower end of the vertical stud if? by a connecting rod M4. The rollerl3i is held against the cam [32 by a spring I46 which is connected atits other end to a stud extending from the underside of the table. Inoperation, as the table [8 revolves, the cam roller i3 3 acting on thecam I32 causes the movable gripping jaw ll to close and yieldingly holdthe container in position to permit the closure applying operation to beperformed during one portion of the revolution of the table and torelease the containers so that they may be discharged during anotherportion of the revolution of the table.

The mechanism for feeding the closures to the closure applying unitsincluding a supply hopper for storing a bulk supply of caps and fromwhich successive caps are selected and delivered right side up through afeed chute, not shown, may comprise any suitable or known form of capfeeding mechanism, reference being made to the U. S. Patent to R.N.Doble, No. 1,801,721, as illustrating one form of such cap feedingmechanism.

The mechanism for transferring the caps from the cap feeding mechanismto the cap applying chucks 66 while the latter are revolving maycomprise the transferring mechanism disclosed in the Everett patenthereinbefore referred to and, as illustrated in said patent, eachclosure applying device is provided with an oscillatory transferring armmounted to revolve about the cen tral shaft 59 with the closure applyingunits as the latter revolve. Provision is made for effecting theoscillations of the closure applying devices about the shaft Ei'l as toenable the successive caps or closures to be withdrawn from the end ofthe closure feeding chute and to be transferred to a position under thechuck 66 to be engaged by the latter during the revolution of theclosure applying devices.

As clearly disclosed and fully described in the aforesaid U. S. Patentto Arthur Clarence Everett, each closure applying device comprises ahousing lifi'slidably and rotatably mounted in the casing 60. Thehousing 33 is provided at its lower end with the cap gripping mechanism,generally in dicated at 65 which is arranged to pick up a cap, apply itto a container, and thereafter release the cap to permit the closedcontainer to be delivered from the machine. Inasmuch as the cap grippingmechanism of itself constitutes no part of the present invention. it issufficient to state that provision is made'in the gripping mechanism forpermitting the driving connections, hereinbefore referred to as theclutch, to slip when the cap has been screwed down to the limit of itsthreads, reference being made to the aforesaid patent for a completedescription thereof.

. @In the .operation of the illustrated machine,

each closureapplying unit I4 is lowered to receive'a cap when it arrivesat a positioh indicated by dotted lines at A, see Fig. 2. The unit isthen fraised and again lowered when it arrives atf dotted line positionB. The unit remains in its lowered or cap applying position-until itarrivesat theposition indicated by dotted lines at C whereupon the gripon the cap is released housing 88 and each pinion meshes with a gear '55rotatably mounted but normally stationary upon th'e sleeve M. JThepinion 94 is made of sufiicient length to permit the gear and pinion toremain in mesh in the various vertical positionstinto which thepinionand chuck housing are moved during the operation of the machine. I Fromthe description ,thus far, it will be observed that each closureapplying unit M is arranged to be .driven in a clockwise directionviewing Fig. 2 by theengagement of the pinions 94 with the normallystationary gear 75 as the units are revolved by the rotatabie head I?also traveling in a clockwise direction. During thev normal operation ofthe machine or when it is desired to have theuunits I 4 rotated at theirmaximum speed, upon their own axes; the gear 75 is'held stationary by' abolt T! which secures the, hub '89 of the gear l5 to theflange 12 of thesleeve 14 fixed to the stationary shaft 50 by Provision is mad lf orenabling the rate of rotation of the closure applying unit or units tobe substantially reduced asucompared to the normal rate of rotationthereof in a novel and simple manner. To this end in the illustratedmachine the rotatable head [2 maybe regarded as the driving member andthe pinions 84 can be regarded as the driven member of a gear trainwhich normally includes thestationary gear 15. accordance with thepresent'invention the machine is provided with additional gearingelements mounted to be normally inoperative duringoperation of themachine at normal speeds .but which may be rendered operative in asimple andpractical manner andwhen rendered operative serve to effectrotation of the pinions 94 and consequently of the closure applyingunits at a substantially reducedrateyof speed. i

In order to effect the. above describedresult, it ispreferred to use anepicyclic train of gears, which as herei n'shown, comprises an internalgear. 33, sun pinion 85 and planet pinion 81. In the operation of themachine when it is desired to change over from high speed to'low speedoperation of the units, itji's simply necessary to removekthe bolt TIfrom the position shown infull lines in Fig. 1, in order to permit thegear '75 to rotate on the sleeve .74,- and then to replace the bolt H inthe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 in order to secure theinternal gear 53 to the rotatablehead l2. The sun pinion 85 issta-Theplanet pinion 81, in mesh with the internal gear and the sun pinion,is .rotatably mounted upon a stud .91 which is fixed to the largegear15. In the operation of the epicyclic train when the rotatable head 12is turned, the internal gear 83, being secured to the head, turns withthe latter and transmits motion to the planet pinion 81 causing thelatter to revolve about the stationary sun pinion 85. The planet pinion,being mounted on'the large gear 15, causes the latter to rotate and thusthe closure applying unit pinions 94 being revolved about the large gear15 by the rotatable head l2 are caused to rotate at a slowerrate ofspeed. i

During the normal orhigh speed operation of the closure applying units,the bolt 11 is removed from the position shown in dotted lines and againreplaced to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 in order to holdthe large gear 15 stationary. Thus, the bolt being removed from therotatable head 2, the planetary trainuremains idle during thehigh speedoperation.

In the illustrated machine the containers are carried into the machineon a conveyor 200 of any suitable construction, such as parallel chainsrunning over sprockets, not shown, and as the containers are received bythe machine, pro

vision. is made for delivering the containers to the clamping jaws 16, Has the latter are" moved into a receiving position. I As herein shown,see

Fig. 2, the containers are delivered into a rotating disk .202 andthence conveyed by a toothed" rotary member 204 to a position to bedelivered onto the revoluble table l8 and to be received by the clampingjawslli, 11 which have previously been opened ready to receive acontainer. The jawsclose about the container and as described thecontainer is moved through successive stations where the closure isscrewed onto the container whereupon the jaws I 5, I! are opened i andthe container is guided to a rotary disk 206 t which conveys thecontainers to a discharge conveyor .288. The latter may comprise a beltor any other usual or preferred form of conveyor for continuouslyremoving the containers from the machine.

In the operation of the embodiment of the invention thus far described,the containers are guided between rails 29 I, 2173 onto the rotary disk2132 and then carried by the toothed member 294 cap and container invertical alignment, the chuck 66 is rotated by the engagement of thepinions 94 with the large gear #5 and at the point designated at B, thechuck islowered to apply the cap to the container. When the cap has beenscrewed all the way down, the clutch members are arranged to slipuntilfinally, at a point designated at C the chuck releases the cap and thecontainer is ejected from the machine, between the guides 2m, M2 ontothe rotary disk 206 which carries the containers to the dischargeconveyor 208.

From the description it will be observed that a definite period in therevolution of each closure applying unit is reserved for the capapplying operation and, as herein indicated, seel ig. 2, this periodextends from the position B to the ,55 to remove the cap from thetransferring arm.

As the machine continues in operation, with the position C whichisapproximately 190 degrees.

high speed operation thereof, each closure applying unit rotates uponits own axis about two and one-half turns between the positions B and C.

When the machine is operated at low speed or through the planetarytrain, as above described,

this rotation of the closure applying unit between the positions B and Cis reduced to about one turn in the 190 degrees period. It will readilybe seen from the above that when operating uponclosures which'requireless than o'neturn in order to seatthe same upon a container, thereduction in the turning movement greatly reduces the required slippingtime of the clutch of.

the unit, resulting in increasing the life thereof. It will be observedthat the present closure applying machine is capable of successfuloperation upon screw closures having either long or short threadedportions and particularly upon closures and containers such asillustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The container 20 illustrated therein isprovided with threaded portions ll having recesses l3 between eachportioninto which lugs I5 provided upon the closure it!) are arranged toI enter before the turning movement is effective to seat the closureupon the container. The present. closure applying machine havingprovision for reducing the speed of operation of each unit permits thelug type of closure to be successfully handled while maintaining thenormal output of closed containers from the machine.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described, it 'willbe understood that the invention maybe embodied in other forms within the scope ofthe about its own axis ata different rate of speed While maintaining the same rate of revolublemovement of the closure applying device during both speeds.

2. In a c osure applying machine, in combination, a revoluble closureapplying device, revoluble container holding means, means for relativelymoving the container and said closure applying device toward and fromeach other, means for efiecting the rotation of the closure applyingdevice about its own axis during its revoluble movemerit, and means forchanging the speed of rota tion of said closure applying device aboutits own while maintaining the same rate of revoluble movement of theclosure applying device.

In a closure applying machine, in combinatio." a revoluble closureapplying device, revoluble cont her holding means, means for relativelymoving the container and said closure applying device toward andvfromeach other, and means for effecting the rotation of the closure applyingdevice about its own axis at different rates of speed during itsrevoluble movement, said last named means including a pinion connectedto the closure applying device and a normally stationary adapted toengage said pinion to effect rotajtion thereof at one rate of speed andmounted,

.In a commercial machine'during the normal or to be capable of movementduring rotation thereof at a different rate of speed.

4. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a revoluble closureapplying device, revoluble container holding means, means for relativelymovingthe container and said closure applying device toward and fromeach other, and means for effecting the rotation of the closure applyingdevice about itsown axis at different rates of speed during itsrevoluble movement, said last named means inciuding'a pinion connectedto the closure applying device and a normally stationary gear adaptedtoengage saidpinion to efiect rotation at one speed and means normallyinoperative and capable of connection to effect movement of normallystationary gear to effect a reduction in the speed of rotation of saidrevoluble closure applying device while maintaining a constant rate ofrevoluble movement of the latter.

5. In a closure applying machine, in combination, revoluble closureapplying device, revoluble container holding means, means for relatively moving the container and said closure applying device toward andfrom each other, and

means for effecting the rotation of the closure applying device aboutits own axis at different rates of speed during its revoluble movement,'

normally inoperative and capable of connection effect movement of saidnormally stationary gear to efiect a reduction in the speed of rotationof said revoluble closure applying device.

6. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a revoluble closureapplying device, revoluble container holding means, means for relatively moving the container and said closure applying device toward andfrom each other, and

means for effecting the rotation of the closure applying device aboutits own axis at different rates of speed during its revoluble movement,said last named means including a pinion connected to the closureapplyingdevice and a normally stationary gear adapted to engage saidpinion to effect said rotation at a relatively high speed, and means foreffecting';movement of said normally stationary gear cooperatingtoeifect rotation of said revolublepclosure applying device at arelatively low speed; I

"7. In a'closure applying machine, in combin'a tion, a revolubleclosur'eapplying device, revoluble container holdingmeans, means for relativelymoving the container and said closure applying devicetoward and fromeach other, and means for effecting the rotation of the closure effectsaid rotation at a'relatively high speed,

applying device about its own axis at different and means for effectingmovement of said normally stationary gear to effect rotation of saidrevoluble closure applying-device at a relatively lowspeed whilemaintaining a fixed rate of revo- I cluding a pinion connected to theclosure applying device, a normally stationary gear adapted to engagesaid pinion to effect rotation at one rate of speed and normallyinoperative elements capable of forming with said gear an epicyclictrain of gears for effecting rotation of said closure applying device atanother rate of speed, and revoluble container holding means foroperatively supporting the container during the closure applyingoperation. 1 l

9. In a closure applying machine, in combination, a revoluble closureapplying device, means for efiecting the rotation of the closureapplying device upon its own axis at different rates of speed during itsrevoluble movement, said means including a pinion connected to theclosure applying device, a normally stationary. gearadapted speed, andrevoluble container holding means for operatively supporting thecontainer during the closure applying operation While maintaining afixed rate of revoluble movement during both speeds.

10. In a closure applying machine, in combination,a closure applyingdevice mounted to rotate about its own axis, container holding means,

meansior effecting rotation of the closure applying device about its ownaxis including a driven vertical shaft, a normally stationary gearmounted 'upon the shaft adapted to rotate there- With, a gear carried bythe closure applying device and variable speed varying connectionsbetween said gears whereby to permit rotation of the closure applyingdevice about its own axis at difierent rates of speed While maintaininga constant rate of rotation of the driven vertical shaft.

WILLIAM H. NEWEY.

